US Senate recognizes 1932-1933 famine as genocide against Ukrainians

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution, the first-ever legal act by the U.S. Congress in which the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, also known as Holodomor, is recognized as genocide against the Ukrainian people with the blame for it being put on Joseph Stalin.

“In particular, the operative part of the document includes the recognition by the Senate of the findings of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine (dated April 22, 1988) that ‘Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-1933’,” the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States said in a statement.

The resolution also condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including the freedom of self-determination and freedom of speech, of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet government. It extends its deepest sympathies to the victims, survivors of the famine, and their families, and encourages dissemination of information regarding the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in order to expand the world’s knowledge of this manmade tragedy, the embassy added.

“We are sincerely grateful to the U.S. Senate and the main co-authors of the resolution – Senate Ukraine Caucus Co-Chairs, Senators Robert Portman and Richard Durbin – for this historical decision. The resolution is the result of fruitful cooperation of the Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S., the Ukrainian community of America, and Ukraine’s friends in the U.S. Senate,” the report says.

The draft of a similar resolution was also approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress and is currently awaiting consideration during a plenary session, the embassy added.

As reported, in late September, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate approved and recommended for approval by the U.S. Senate of a resolution recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people.

Earlier, President Petro Poroshenko commended the efforts of the Ukrainian community in the United States in recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people.